The invention relates to a vehicle sensitive inertia sensor for the vehicle sensitive actuation of a locking device of a safety belt arrangement, especially in motor vehicles, having an inertia component, the deviation of which from its resting position acts via a tensile component that is movable in a transverse direction onto a respective movable lever of a locking device thus initiating the locking function, whereby the tensile component is connected with one end to the movable lever and with the other end to the housing of the locking device.
A vehicle sensitive inertia sensor of the aforementioned kind has been described in DE 36 24 569 A1; in this known device, the inertia sensor in the form of a pendulum mass is suspended between two connecting rods such that it is movable in a transverse direction, whereby one of the connecting rods is positioned between a suspension fixed at the housing and the pendulum mass and the other connecting rod is positioned between the pendulum mass and a transmission component connected to the moveable lever of the locking device. When accelerations or decelerations occur, the inertia element is shifted and thus shortens, via the deflection of the connecting rods, the distance between their suspension points, so that, via the actuation of the transmission component, the locking function of the movable lever of the locking device is initiated.
The known inertia sensor has the disadvantage, that the pendulum mass is disposed in a free floating manner between the connecting rods, requiring a secure connection between their connecting rods and the pendulum mass. Also, in various places, movable connections between the suspension points and the connecting rods as well as the connecting rods and the pendulum masses must be provided, and for this reason it is difficult to produce the known inertia sensor as well as to adjust it properly during assembly.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an inertia sensor of the aforementioned kind, the production and mounting of which is simplified and the function and operation of which is improved.